Qatar To Open Kabul Embassy In Bid To Reinvigorate Peace Process

Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry says Qatar will open an embassy in Kabul to deepen relations and play a greater role in Afghanistan's peace process.

The development comes after Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasool met on April 3 in Doha with senior Qatari officials.

Khalid Muhammad al-Attiyah, Qatar's minister for international cooperation, confirmed plans to talk to all Afghan parties -- including the Kabul government and the Taliban -- to help reinvigorate the peace process.

Qatar is allowing Afghanistan's Taliban to open a political office on its soil. But the Taliban in March suspended confidence building talks with U.S. officials in Doha after the killing of 16 Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier.

Those talks included the issue of potentially transferring Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.